[Build Log] H2O-Micro (<3 Liter watercooled gaming system)

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That is the goal, although the motherboard will also be predefined, it has to be a thin M-ITX board with a PCIe 4x slot. That only gives you a couple of options, with the Gigabyte GA-H81TN being the most logical.

It is the same basic idea as those streacom passive cases, you get the case and the required component for the cooling setup and the motherboard is predefined, but in my case also the GPU.

right i forgot the mobo was a slim itx.

i would use it as a SSF workstation and expand outside the case with external hdd etc. a bit like the mac pro i guess. i'm a student so my space is limited and i already have a desktop but it is mostly for gaming.

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around how much would this be actually? $$$ wise that is. cause i would love one, but idk how much i'd be willing to pay. i would actually love if you offered a barebones option maybe. but if not that's ok just wondering about the price though.

edit: so i know others have asked, but like say 5 people order one. any estimate on that?

Just a normal guy with a constant desire to modify everything he owns.

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That is the goal, although the motherboard will also be predefined, it has to be a thin M-ITX board with a PCIe 4x slot. That only gives you a couple of options, with the Gigabyte GA-H81TN being the most logical.

It is the same basic idea as those streacom passive cases, you get the case and the required component for the cooling setup and the motherboard is predefined, but in my case also the GPU.

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I’m still working out the costs of the DIY kit, still figuring out ways to reduce costs.

In the mean time I received the anodised cases back and I transplanted the entire system over to it.

Here are some quick snapshots

Photo of the Front

Photo of the back

Photo of my attempt at a closeup to show the finish.

I personally really love the finish I’ve gone for, it’s not quite the silver finish that you find on most cases it has a little more grey mixed it.

Now as for progress on the DIY kit.

I’ve mentioned before that I am considering to support the Gigabyte GA-H81-TN over the original ASUS Q87T I used in my build. My reasoning is that besides the lack of 1 Ethernet port, who needs 2 anyway? And 2 of the 4 USB ports being 2.0 there is not a whole lot of difference between the boards.

Did I mention it costs almost half of the Q87T?

They both have

mSATA

Half-length mini-PCIe

PCIe 3.0 4x

4790K support

16GB SODIMM support

2 Fan header

You could even argue the GA-H81-TN has better thermals because the heatsink on the PCH is bigger.

Here is a side-by-side

Photo of Top of Motherboards

Photo of Motherboard I/O

Would you guys be okay with the GA-H81-TN?

Next is the thing I am very eager to hear you opinions about.

So right now I am running on a 20V 350W Gigantic external brick. I think it is bulky and you all should feel the same .

Recently ASUS has released the ASUS ROG G20 and it has 2 external bricks. Why? Most likely 2 smaller bricks are cheaper than 1 big brick. They made a bracket to hold them.

I want to switch to a 2 brick design for 2 reasons.

Reason 1: Costs, by going for 2 seperate bricks I can reduce the costs of these bricks

Supply and demand is the cause of this. More manufacturers and consumers buy lower power AC adapters so more manufacturers make them and prices go down because of that.

Reason 2: Space/Cost I can probably cut the HD-Plex 250W DC-DC board by going this route. I can use a power brick that supplies 12V to the GPU, thus giving me the option to make the system more versatile, maybe I can squeeze in a 2,5” or at least a 1,8” drive mount, allowing some form of HDD storage besides the mSATA drive. Also the DC board is expensive for what is does in this system, it is a glorified 20V to 12V adapter, so why not go from 230/115VAC to 12VDC directly?

PS: I will make sure I have a nice bracket to discretly mount the 2 power bricks.

Please let me know what you guys think about this.

I’ve made a strawpoll, but if you feel the need to voice your opinion please do.

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With two power bricks, I'm guessing there would be a single split cable going into the bricks, and then there'll be two seperate cables going into the computer from the bricks? Because that sounds like a lot of potential for tangled cables

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With two power bricks, I'm guessing there would be a single split cable going into the bricks, and then there'll be two seperate cables going into the computer from the bricks? Because that sounds like a lot of potential for tangled cables

Yes, that would be the way I would do it. I might even sleeve the 2 DC cables together, but that depends on how it looks and the time it takes, but the split AC cable will be a fact.

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make this little beast vesa mount compatible so you can make a super small AIO computer

just an idea anyway ^^ the asus vs gigabyte mobo thing.. i like asus motherboards but i wouldn't care which board was in there as long as it runs nicely. the g20 is a very cool computer but the 2 power bricks thing just seems stupid. UNLESS it is because it is 2 huge bricks with massive power delivery for more powerful hardware.

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make this little beast vesa mount compatible so you can make a super small AIO computer

just an idea anyway ^^ the asus vs gigabyte mobo thing.. i like asus motherboards but i wouldn't care which board was in there as long as it runs nicely.

the g20 is a very cool computer but the 2 power bricks thing just seems stupid. UNLESS it is because it is 2 huge bricks with massive power delivery for more powerful hardware.

Will keep VESA mount in the back of my head. it would ruin the aesthetics quite a bit and only a few people would make use it I think.

The reason of the 2 power bricks is availability, the are running some high-end hardware and it needs over 300W of power to run it. The probably use 2 standard power bricks they already have in stock and at a cheap price instead of developing a new 400W+ AC adapter.

How is gaming on it?

Gaming on it is as you would expect for a 4670+GTX970, only difference it is in a tiny case

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Will keep VESA mount in the back of my head. it would ruin the aesthetics quite a bit and only a few people would make use it I think.

The reason of the 2 power bricks is availability, the are running some high-end hardware and it needs over 300W of power to run it. The probably use 2 standard power bricks they already have in stock and at a cheap price instead of developing a new 400W+ AC adapter.

Gaming on it is as you would expect for a 4670+GTX970, only difference it is in a tiny case